Alexander Zavaly is a Russian painter, illustrator and stage designer with more than 500 works living in Gelendzhik (Krasnodar region). A lot of his works are included in the collections of national museums, private galleries, both in Russia and abroad.

We would like to present to you a series of his works named “Epical cats”. This series triggers mixed feelings in Russians. You can make your own opinion by looking at these pictures.

heroic Russian cats

Tags: Krasnodar krai

Earlier this year, Russia’s largest airline “Aeroflot” announced a contest “Paint the plane of Aeroflot.” The contest was announced in honor of the 90th anniversary of the company and it was open to everybody.

The winner of the contest was the project of Alexander Sosnovsky, who suggested to paint the plane in the style of Russian folk painting Khokhloma. You can see his design on the picture below.

first photos of repainted aircraft

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A few days ago, in Perm, the festival of arts “White Nights” started. An exhibition of Krasnoyarsk artist Vasily Slonov “Welcome! Sochi 2014” was one of the participants of the festival. A couple of days later, it was closed by the local authorities.

Officials found the exhibition Russophobian and defaming the Olympics in Sochi, said the organizer of the festival Marat Gelman. However, he said, the exhibition will be reopened in the independent cultural center “Rechnik” today.

More caricatures of the Sochi 2014 Olympics

Tags: Perm city · Sochi city · Sochi2014

May 1 is a holiday in many countries around the world and is known as Labor and Spring Day in present Russia. In the USSR it was celebrated as International Workers Day.

May 1, 1886, socialist, communist and anarchist organizations in the U.S. and Canada staged a series of rallies and demonstrations. May 4, 1886, six people were killed when the police broke up one of these demonstrations in Chicago.

If you have worked well – you will have good rest

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Tags: posters · propaganda · Soviet past

The State Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchusev in Moscow begins advertising campaign. The main purpose is to tell people about this wonderful museum. Unique collections of the museum reflect thousand-year history of the architectural heritage of Russia.

The focus is on the key historic buildings, symbols of the city – St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square, the Bolshoi Theater, and the main building of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov.

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Tags: Moscow city · museum

Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky (1839-1915) is a Russian artist. Many of his historical paintings show an idealized view of life in Russia in the past centuries.

The portrait genre took special place in the artist’s works. Largely thanks to it he achieved success by becoming a fashionable artist of his time.

His paintings are known for beautifully painted furnishings, clothes, expensive fabrics and furs. The artist tried to show portrayed in the most favorable light, while adhering to the exact similarity.

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“One cowboy, two cowboy” is a Soviet animated film released in 1981. Director: Anatoliy Reznikov. Screenwriter: Arkadiy Khait.

The main characters are a cowboy and his cow. It is one of the classic Soviet cartoons. Almost all children in the Soviet Union saw it.

Tags: cartoon · Soviet past

Soviet moviegoer in the 1920ies, during the NEP (the New Economic Policy), was able to watch a lot of not only Soviet, but also foreign films. As a rule, it was purely entertaining films, ideological films were not the biggest part of all the films, as it became later.

The movie posters of these years are of great interest. It was a continuous celebration of avant-gardism, endless experiment with colors, shapes, images. This flashy language of bright colors was coming into collision with the black-and-white world of the silver screen. Pictures by visualhistory

The Battleship Potemkin

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Tags: posters · Soviet past

February 13, Russia marks 140 years since the birth of the great singer Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin, who became a symbol of an era.

Chaliapin, peasant family offspring, who studied music himself had an enormous influence on the Russian and world culture.

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Immediately after the October Revolution, the Soviet government took control of the fashion. In general, the changes occurred mostly in women’s fashion. Clothing was unpretentious, simpler than in the days of the Russian Empire. The woman was to look like as a citizen (“tovarisch”), who can “build” socialism.

However, during the Khrushchev thaw (late 1950s – 1960s), due to more openness in Soviet society, the western style in fashion began to spread. This catalog, published by Leningrad fashion house (Saint Petersburg today) in 1957, gives an idea of this time. Pictures by visualhistory

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Tags: Saint Petersburg city · Soviet past